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Mississippi, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the nation, has passed a law that when a teenager will not name the father of the baby that the state can do DNA test on umbilical chord blood.

I think this is a good law. Children born out-of-wedlock are a huge burden on our social welfare system but that isn't the only reason the state has an interest in finding out who the dads are. When you are discussing teen moms, sometimes you are not talking about teen dads.

Quote:

As a chancery judge, Goree oversees child support cases.

“When you’re seeking child support quite often in these situations, they don’t identify the father and so quite often you don’t know until way down the road that the person who is the father is a relative or the boyfriend ... of someone else in the household,” she said.

It will be interesting to see how the privacy issue plays out in the courts.

Quote:

The bill’s main sponsor, Republican state Rep. Andy Gipson, said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that DNA left on objects, such as saliva on a disposable cup, can be tested as evidence in a criminal case. He said he thinks umbilical cord blood fits that description.

“We’re not taking blood from the baby,” Gipson said. “We’re not taking blood from the mother. We’re taking blood that is discarded ... literally discarded.”

Gipson said he doesn’t believe a man who fathers a child with an underage girl should have a reasonable expectation of privacy. “Most cases would involve a suspect who is pretty well identified,” he said.

Personally, I hope more states adopt this policy. Fathers need to be held accountable and responsible for their children and too many get away with not doing so because the mother tries to protect him or promises him she won't go after him. That means the rest of society ends up paying for that child.

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Location: Chicago, IL

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldhag1

Mississippi, which has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the nation, has passed a law that when a teenager will not name the father of the baby that the state can do DNA test on umbilical chord blood.

I think this is a good law. Children born out-of-wedlock are a huge burden on our social welfare system but that isn't the only reason the state has an interest in finding out who the dads are. When you are discussing teen moms, sometimes you are not talking about teen dads.

It will be interesting to see how the privacy issue plays out in the courts.

Personally, I hope more states adopt this policy. Fathers need to be held accountable and responsible for their children and too many get away with not doing so because the mother tries to protect him or promises him she won't go after him. That means the rest of society ends up paying for that child.

Status:
"It used be called serfdom. Now it's trickle down economics"
(set 3 days ago)

Location: Chicago, IL

4,541 posts, read 2,132,602 times

Reputation: 1491

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert_J

If you are making crotch fruit with an underage girl, then there's a good chance you will end up in the system sooner or later.

Nice. So you match the record to some dude in jail, and withhold pennies on the pennies that he makes while he's in jail. Hopefully, they'll still be selling candy's for $.25 since that's about as much they'll collect in child support.

While my first reaction to this law was somewhat positive, after a minute or so of thought I realized that it's probably a bad idea. Think about it. The child support system, which is full of laws that were written at a time when men worked and women stayed at home, doesn't care what the reasoning is for not being able to provide financial support for your children. A man who is voluntarily deadbeat in his duties as a father or a man who can't obtain a job which pays enough to pay what is usually an exhorbitant amount of child support are lumped into the same category. In the long run, he ends up in prison, which merely adds yet another tax burden to those who are already footing the bill for the welfare that is supporting the child in the first place.

Quite honestly, I know several women who became mothers during their teenage years and had zero support from the fathers - a couple couldn't even tell you who the father is. The ones where the father is known have done better raising their children on their own than they ever could have with the father around, considering that for the most part the fathers aren't emotionally capable of taking care of themselves, much less a child.

I don't have an answer for teenage pregnancy, other than for people to start actually raising their children with some sense of responsibility, but I don't think this law addresses the issue properly, either.

Or......they could just require that the mother name the father if she wants to be eligible for any child support services, such as WIC, welfare, food stamps etc.

If she doesn't want to name the father.....she has to take care of the child on her own dime.

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